Recent Top Posts on The Chelsea Blog

TheChelseaBlog.org has opened a shop with affordable Chelsea merchandise, which offers an array of designs created specifically for Chelsea fans.

With t-shirts going for as little as £9, there’s also hoodies, mugs, badges and the like available.

It’s early days still and there are creases to iron out. However, if you have any ideas for designs or there’s something in particular you’d like to see on a shirt, then just let us know by emailing here.

Also, up until August 25th there is free shipping on all orders which include a child or baby product. Simply enter BACKTOFREESHIPPING when asked for a voucher vode.

Just when you think Real Madrid can’t sink any lower than they already have this summer, they prove you wrong again. Because despite Kenyon’s continued optimism around the possible signing of Robinho, Real have other ideas.

Even yesterday, during the ‘World Exclusive’ press conference to announce not some major signing but what would usually have been a routine contract extension for any other club, Kenyon insisted negotiations over a potential deal for the Brazilian were ‘continuing’.

And yet, despite their pretty shoddy treatment of Robinho during the summer, Real have already turned down Chelsea’s initial offer of £19.7million with Ramon Calderon suggesting the player will “definitely stay” with the Spanish club.

The player himself, who has previously stated “It would be a dream for me to work with Luiz Felipe Scolari, who is one of the best coaches in the world”, is said to be far from happy to stay at Real and plans to call a press conference this week to announce his desire to move to Chelsea. Whilst his agent, Wagner Ribeiro continues to champion his cause, as he has done all summer, insisting Real have “failed to value him as he deserves.”

But whilst Kenyon’s crossing his fingers and telling us “We’ve still got a few days left of the window. Hopefully we’ll get a result”, the word from Calderon is that Real Madrid ‘have no intention of selling Robinho to Chelsea.’

Despite recent speculation linking Joe Cole with moves to both Aston Villa and Liverpool, it would have to be said, his recent interviews don’t add much weight to the stories.

The Chelsea midfielder, who like everyone else seems to think this season’s Premier League campaign will be fairly close run, has talked up both Arsenal and Liverpool’s chances of challenging. However, he thinks they’ve both got a bit of work to do when it comes to grinding out results and Arsenal, in particular Cole suggests, need to drop the ‘Harlem Globetrotter’ stuff if they’re serious about the title.

Cole says “’Manchester United and Chelsea have learnt how to win games in different ways, but Liverpool and Arsenal are different. They are both great sides on their day, but maybe they don’t win enough games when they don’t play well.”

And I’m inclined to agree because whilst Chelsea’s bland, efficient football filled me with no joy last season and added precisely nothing to our trophy cabinet, over the course of the season it was still marginally more effective than Arsenal’s pretty, but over-elaborative style which ultimately left them behind us on points.

Don’t get me wrong, during the earlier part of the season, Arsenal certainly looked the part – and yet the majority outside of the Emirates still probably expected their winning run to come to the end it eventually did. And it’s exactly their reaction in the face of defeat that lets them down. Rather than dig in deep and show they’ve got some grit, they whine about other teams roughing them up or playing ‘negative’ football to spite them. As far as Arsenal are concerned, playing ‘the beautiful game’ puts them above everyone else, win or lose.

I mean, if the supporters are happy with that then that’s fine, it must be very pleasing to watch the game being played as it should be after all. But this isn’t coming from someone who thinks their own team does it better, just a supporter who believes being a purist isn’t half as satisfying as being a winner. You see, whilst I’d like to see Chelsea play a more attractive style of football in the coming season, I’d rather that isn’t at the detriment of their ability to get a result. Because Cole’s quite right, Arsenal’s inability to mix it means they only win when they’re playing well and a bad day at the office usually results in tantrums all round and a lack of points.

And whilst we still might not be the “Harlem Globetrotters” or have the same attacking style as the current Champions, our ability to win games can’t be questioned. So, here’s hoping the addition of a ‘manager’ this season addresses the aesthetics whilst leaving the backbone intact.